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Friday, October 5, 2012

Sepia Saturday: Breaking the ice

Sepia Saturday challenges
bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

When Alan selected the photo for this week’s Sepia Saturday challenge, he was dreaming of his upcoming luxury vacation
cruise. While I've never been on a
cruise, my dad did some cruising in his younger days.

In the Coast Guard.

My dad - Fred R. Slade, Jr

He enlisted shortly after high school on February 11,
1946, and was honorably discharged May 12, 1947. One year in service to our
country must have been the minimum to qualify for the GI Bill enabling him to enroll
in college for the fall semester.

Daddy was stationed in Boston, Massachusetts. He loved Boston and he spent as much of his
free time as possible at the Boston Symphony or at Fenway Park watching those
Red Sox. His work as a seaman involved
decommissioning four ships. I suppose
that means he was cleaning out drawers and removing cannonballs preparing to
spike the cannon.

USCGC Eastwind
photo courtesy of USCG.mil

He was assigned to the USCGC Eastwind, a wind-class icebreaker, considered the most
technologically advanced icebreaker in its day. Icebreakers are special-purpose ships with a
strengthened hull and an ice-clearing shape, with power to push through
ice-covered waters.

Breaking through the icy waters near Greenland

The Eastwind and ships like it were able
to drive their bow ONto the ice, breaking the ice under their weight. The specially designed hull enabled the ship
to direct broken ice either around or under the vessel; otherwise the buildup
of broken ice could slow it down.

Lowering a truck into a smaller boat to
transport to the air base

The Eastwind made four trips to Greenland patrolling the
waters, but mainly supplying bases there.

I don’t ever recall seeing Daddy’s scrapbook of his time
in the Coast Guard until after his death.
So I’m totally without stories about his shipmates and their work, which
he faithfully documented in photos. But
the scrapbook reflects Daddy’s personality and the traits that I have come to
associate with him. First of all, he was
always sentimental about mothers and children.

Inuit people of Greenland

Inuit family in front of their home

He was curious about other cultures.

The powerful icebreaker held as much fascination for the Inuit as the kayaks did for Daddy and his shipmates.

He was in awe of nature’s majesty.

He was always amused by the antics of children and
animals.

A most loved companion -- "Skunk"

Skunk was the ship’s mascot. Although mascots were not officially allowed,
most captains turned a blind eye as long as the animal was cared for and
boosted morale. And in typical mascot
fashion, Skunk didn’t belong to anyone in particular and would follow along
with the men when they went ashore, even to the bars. The men made sure Skunk sat on his own
barstool and drank some beer. Yeeeaah, I
guess there was no PETA chapter in Thule.

Sail on over to Sepia Saturday to see what the crew has
to offer. Don’t be shy - I’ve already
broken the ice for you.

56 comments:

I found this to be a fascinating post especially as I did a Sepia Saturday post in Jan 2011 on icebreakers. However the experience of your Dad and his interests is what really caught my attention and the Inuits in particular. In training courses we use a picture of an icebreaker in the course introduction and some shots of polar bears provided by a delegate from Thule.Skunk is a great name for a dog.

Yeah, I was initially just irritated looking at all those photos wondering what the heck I was looking at, who were those people blah blah blah. But through it all, those pictures ARE my dad - exactly the things he would take pictures of.

What a wonderful collection & scrapbook of your father's. I had to laugh at the previous comment & your reply, we are never happy with what we have are we, there's always someone out there with a better collection than we have!

It does seem like a lot of work for a year. When I saw that list of ships on his discharge papers, I wondered if he had been kicked off one and sent to another. But when I researched the history of each ship, I saw that in every case they were in Boston to be decommissioned.

Wendy, enjoyed your story about your Dad's stint as a sailor; it must have been so different then, I think especially the communication with his family while he was away. Beautiful photos to be treasured. Naturally love the picture of Skunk, oh, he was such a cutie.

Thanks - I'll check that out. I use IrfanView and can do some editing like resizing and changing to black/white or sepia. I've never noticed anything about desaturating, but then again I've never looked since I didn't know to.

It's a real treat when Alan's theme inspires a super story like this, Wendy. I've always wanted to go to Greenland but I doubt that it looks anything like these pictures. Your Dad's adventure in that first post-war year, must have had a special excitement knowing that the world (mostly) was open to explore in peace.

I'm glad you mentioned the first post-war time period. I had totally overlooked that point myself although during my research on the Eastwind I saw that it was heavily armed and had fought a German ship during the war.

What an insight into a year in the coastguards, and your father looks to have made the most of it. How wonderful he documented it all with photographs. Icebreakers and Greenland may not have been on his mind when he joined up, what a treat.

Skunk is so adorable! What a wonderful journey through your dad's days! My father was in the Navy as well. Sadly my mother has done something with the entire album we once had of his days in the Navy. I'm trusting someday, because the ship photos like of your dad are just so wonderful!

Hi Wendy, oh how I loved this post and am happy about getting to know your Dad better. How wonderful that he took so many pictures. It seems as if he got lots of adventure in during his short time before the war wound down. And to have been able to watch the Red Sox at Fenway way back when! I am envious of that part.

He is so cute in that very first picture, though the uniform made me think of Gilligan, lol.

The dog caught my attention as my dad often spoke of his ship captain's dog. He was in the U.S. Navy during WWII. I know he missed his dog back in Michigan (He carried framed photos of Trixy with him). I think that Captain's dog helped him and likely many others. I am trying to think of the dog's name - thank you for prompting me to revisit this memory!Kathy

So many fun and interesting things here! Your dad in his sailor's hat. The Inuit home with the pane glass windows that seem in stark contrast to the rest of the house. Wondering how that man fit in his kayak. Imagining the beauty of the the scenic pictures. And Skunk!

I'd say you are your fathers daughter. Wonderful photos, information and reflective and deductive reasoning of your fathers interests. My Dad was a sailor stationed in Japan, and I have several photos of him with a dog in the barracks there. I never stopped to think about how important that little detail could be to the photo. Another great post.

These are some great photos Wendy! Your dad must have had some very interesting experiences while serving in the Coast Guard. Although I have to say that Greenland is not on my "must visit" list. It must have been soooo cold there!

I do love the photos he took of the people there. It's interesting to see their homes and kayaks too. Quite fascinating!

I had the chance to buy an incredible photo album of a man who served in the Coast Guard in Alaska back in the 1930s. I still kick myself for not buying it, though the $200+ price tag was out of my league.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net